Existing labels range in size and shape, and have specific adhesive and face materials for various specific purposes. For example, food safety is a major concern for restaurants and other establishments involved in the storage and preparation of food for human consumption (the food services industry). To ensure such food safety, the food services industry applies adhesive labels to the surfaces of containers holding food to inform the food handler as to the types of food and its date of preparation and/or date of possible spoilage or nonuse. These labels are a part of food safety labeling systems and there are numerous variations of food safety labeling systems currently on the market. Presently the labels most commonly used in food safety labeling systems are circles, squares, and rectangles.
There are three main types of labels used in these food safety labeling systems—day of the week FIFO (first in first out) systems, shelf-life/product identification labels and use by/use first labels. Food safety labeling systems also use an industry standard color code system of blue for Monday, yellow for Tuesday, red for Wednesday, brown for Thursday, green for Friday, orange for Saturday, and black for Sunday on the labels. These colors are used to quickly identify the days of the week on labels used in food safety labeling systems.
It is desired that an adhesive label used in such a manner be able to function in both high and low temperature environments. Specifically, the adhesive label must remain adhered to the surface of the container under refrigerated conditions. Additionally, it is desirable to have a label resistant to high temperatures so that if the container is cleaned before the label is removed, it will not deteriorate during cleaning and can be easily removed later.
It is customary practice to replace the adhesive label with a new label once the food is used and the container is cleaned. To remove the label, an individual normally removes the label by hand or by using a high temperature washing. There are adhesive labels that are known to dissolve when subjected to such high temperature conditions, such as in a high temperature dishwasher. If such a dissolvable label is not used, however, the adhesive layer holding a conventional label to the surface frequently is difficult to separate from the surface of the food container in order to remove the label from the container, and the label has a tendency to leave a residue or a label remnant on the surface. This is especially true after the container has been washed and the label has begun to deteriorate.
There are three main components used in the production of adhesive or pressure sensitive adhesive labels. The process, commonly referred to as “converting” requires a pressure sensitive or adhesive substrate, and converting machinery that includes a cutting die or other cutting means. An additional aspect of adhesive or pressure sensitive label converting is printing on the front of the label. This is done using printing inks and clays during the converting process.
A pressure sensitive or adhesive substrate is a construction of three elements: face material, adhesive, and liner. The substrate is generally produced by and purchased from a specialty supplier of adhesive materials. The face material is most commonly paper but can also be polyester, vinyl, polypropylene, or even foil. The type of face materials selected for a label is determined by the intended use of the label and the desired quality of the printing. The adhesive is the part of the label that makes it stick and is coated to the undersurface of the face material while the substrate is being produced. There are several types of adhesives applicable for various applications. Examples include permanent, removable, water-soluble, and cold temperature adhesives. The liner is a silicone coated sheet of paper that allows the face material and adhesive to be easily removed for application on other surfaces. The adhesive substrate is usually supplied in rows and during the converting process the substrate is referred to as the “web.”
The cutting die is a precision-machined rotary tool that cuts its substrate into shapes. The cutting die is made of steel and has sharpened blades that cut through the face material and adhesive, but does not cut into the liner. The die cuts the substrate as it passes through the cutting die located in the converting machinery. Cutting of the shapes into the substrate can also be performed by lasers.
After the shapes have been cut into a web, the waste area between the labels is pulled away. This waste area is called the “matrix.” Removal of the matrix leaves the individual label shape on the liner to be wound back into a roll for further processing. Cutting dies and lasers can cut very simple shapes such as circles or squares, or very complex shapes depending on the application. The labels are then processed through the printing press portion of the converting machinery and the rolls of labels are further processed on a rewinder. The blade on the rewinder slits the web into individual strips, which are round into small rolls of generally 500 to 1000 labels each. The small rolls are then packaged for shipping.
Adhesive labels are produced in a variety of shapes. When labels are produced in the shapes of circles, squares, and rectangles, there is a substantial amount of matrix or waste area left between the individual shapes after the cutting die has cut the shapes into the web. The size of this matrix results in a substantial amount of adhesive substrate being required for the production of rolls of circular, square, and rectangular shaped labels.
It is customary to print text on labels with the specific orientation to the shape of the label. To facilitate application of the labels onto selected surfaces, the labels are often oriented in the same position on the liner. There are generally two accepted copy positions for labels—copy on the bottom of the label dispensing first, and copy on the right side of the label dispensing first. This allows the label to be applied right side up and/or to be easily written on with minimum handling of the label once it is removed from the roll of labels.
Depending on the label shape and the print on the label, orienting the labels in a specific manner can result an inefficient spacing of labels, which also results in an increased material consumption and waste generation of the substrate.
Thus, there is a demonstrated need for a process of converting labels that produces the highest number of labels on the smallest amount of substrate. Specifically, the more labels produced in a given area, the less material is consumed, and the less waste material is generated.
Further, there is a need to orient the labels in a manner that conforms to the need of a consistent application direction. There is also a need to orient the printing on the labels in a manner that conforms to the need of a consistent application direction. There is also a need for a triangular shaped label for use in food safety labeling system that is substantially the same size as current circular square shaped labels but can be converted using a substantially smaller amount of material.
Additionally, there is a need for a label for use in food safety labeling systems that will remain securely adhered to a surface, but is easily removed from that surface without leaving an adhesive residue or other label remnant. There is also a demonstrated need for an adhesive label that can stand extreme temperature fluctuations but without compromising the label integrity, enabling it to be removed later. Finally, there is a need for a label for use in food safety labeling systems that includes a nonadhesive portion configured for grasping in order to more easily remove the label from the surface of a container.